Penn Jillette's Potato Power

For those who are unaware, Penn Jillette, of Penn & Teller fame, lost over 100 pounds back in 2015/2016 when he learned that his health was deteriorating due to his poor diet. I remember watching him discussing this in a video on Big Think's Youtube channel in 2016 and being skeptical as I heard his dieting technique (which he admits to being "very extreme").

What was Penn's secret? Why the humble potato of course! Clearly obvious in retrospect, since if there's one thing the potato's associated with, aside from googly eyes and wearing a funny hat, it's weight loss.

What Penn did is employ a 2 week mono diet, a diet in which you eat a single type of ('healthy') food. Before I continue, further, I'd like to say that I am not recommending this extreme form of dieting, a traditional diet plan is both healthier and safer as mono diets result in dietary deficiencies that deprive the body of essential nutrients. Personally, the underlying concept behind the mono diet, rather than the diet itself is what I find interesting.

The entire premise of the mono diet is that you are 'resetting' your appetite by forcing yourself onto a single, fairly bland food item, such as potatoes, carrots, etc. The reset will eliminate your cravings for those undesirable items, such as sugars, fats, etc., and allow you to more easily make healthy food choices.

First hearing this 2 years ago, and in no way being a dietitian, I found the concept questionable to say the least and set it aside, though I'd still revisit that video 3 times over the next 2 years. Now, I have never tried a mono diet, nor do I have any interest in doing so, as I have stated, it's an extreme option for when you need to jumpstart extreme weight loss and should be consulted with your doctor first (as with any diet). The concept of resetting one's diet certainly did intrigue me, however.

A few months ago, I had to start shifting my own diet due to health concerns, unlike Penn, I didn't have to lose weight, instead I needed to get my increasingly severe GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease, AKA "acid reflux") under control, I was already being prescribed 4 antacids a day and  was to the point where I taking 6 regularly, sometimes even 8, and barely seeing relief. My mother suffers from the same issues and consumes a diet that would make Gandhi turn his nose mid-hunger strike from the shear blandness - she once described a meal with salt as "spicy."

Knowing that I'd never tolerate such a drastic change in diet, I decided to stop individual foods instead, starting from a diet of high sugar, high grease, high everything really. Looking back, the fact that I never ended up becoming obese is a testament to the fact my metabolism is much better than I ever gave it credit for being.

First, I stopped drinking soda, next eating fast food, after that it was almost all sweets, then most of the classic condiments - I went over 3 months without even tasting ketchup or BBQ sauce despite them both being former mainstays. Anything I noticed causing acid slowly went, one by one.

About 2 months ago, I finally looked back and realized that I have no desire for most forms of sweets, fast foods, and condiments (I'm still working on cutting down on the spices I grew up with but one step at a time...) As an experiment, I bought myself a bag of Kit Kats, my former favorites, and ate a few. The best way I could describe the taste was overly-sweet cheapness. Still, I was curious and finished them off over the next few days and noticed my taste buds slightly re-acclimated but never truly recovered anything really approaching enjoyment for the taste. Despite all of that, for the rest of the week, I found myself somewhat craving more Kit Kats despite not enjoying eating them.

The reason for this is quite interesting, the human body has several different bacterial biomes, such as the nose, ears, pubic region, and most importantly to this discussion - the stomach. The old adage goes that "you are what you eat" and that bit of old time wisdom is not far off from reality. The more of any food you consume, then the more of the type of bacteria that feeds off of that food will grow. The really interesting part of all this is that the more of those bacteria you have, the more you'll desire those foods due to the chemical signals they release. In short: if you consume unhealthy foods then you'll desire unhealthy foods, however, if you consume healthy foods then you'll desire healthy foods. There's also evidence that the gut microbiome affects mood, however, that's outside of the scope of this piece.

While I'd be lying if I said I was now eating a particularly healthy diet, the loss of the more egregiously unhealthy foods has been more of an opportunity to fit in better, less heavy items, instead of grabbing candy, I grab an apple when I desire something sweet. If I want some cereal, I find myself actually enjoying Raisin Bran, I eat smaller meals than I did a year ago.

I still will have a snack of candy occasionally and average one can of soda every 2 to 3 months but generally find them unsatisfying, particularly the soda. (Though you can take my eggnog from my cold, dead hands...) From being on the path of heading towards having to take 8 antacids a day, I'm now staying constant at 4 and will even some times forget and only take 2. Don't get me wrong, I occasionally will take 6 antacids, however, that usually is the result of my eating some particularly greasy food, forgetting to eat, or if I'm having a stressful day.

I'd like to try further decreasing my consumption of red meat and greasy foods, though that will require me actually learning some new meals so I anticipate an uphill battle on that one. Regardless, much as Penn Jillette's idea to reset his palate was sound and has worked well for him these last two years, it's worked rather well for myself so far. Penn's able to eat what he wants and keep the weight off because he doesn't want unhealthy food to begin with. Just remember, you don't have to do it all at once, if you aren't at immediate risk of a health issue, you can simply remove food items piecemeal, your options will become a little more limited at first but soon your palate will adjust.